Is there a future for a BlackBerry device with a physical QWERTY keyboard

0.phoneArena
06 Feb 2013, 09:22posted on

Last week RIM... um, we mean BlackBerry, introduced its long, looong-anticipated BlackBerry 10 handsets - the Z10 and Q10. The more interesting model of the two is the Z10, of course, as it is a full touchscreen handset, and we all know that full touch is all the rage right now, and will probably continue to be for the foreseeable future...

I don't think it is...or it will, as long as the hardware within is top-notch.
However, i think there should be one more option for us like:
"Yes, qwerty will exist at a rate".
I didn't vote cause i'm "none of the above".

I don't have anything against people who loves physical keyboards, I just state my opinion and my opinion is that physical keyboards will die and we already can see that happening for a few years. Today physical keyboard is becoming even more and more rare case.

Key point in what you said - "five years back". Five years ago soft keyboard solutions were still in their infancy. And five years back, phones with resistive touch screens were still common. FFwd to today, screens are capacitive, and soft keyboard solutions have become much more sophisticated. It's not a double standard - it's progress.

Yep! more people being killed while texting,,wasnt a big problem like it is today, gee theres even a 'no texting while walking now' ill let you figure out what state thats in...people doing dumber things while texting, etc, etc, YEP! thats progress all right!

Well now that Android phones have grown in screen size I don't see a need for a physical keyboard. With my OG Droid I loved my keyboard but when I moved up to a larger screen I didn't mind not having it. With the lovely 3.5 inch or even the 4 inch screen on iPhones I would still want a physical keyboard but with a 4.5"+ screen the need isn't there.

Its like you(wendy) have some sort of "multiple personality dissorder". One day, you might be perfectly rational, reasonable, and considering(ie. now), and some days, well you turn into "apple-slave-mode" (remember how 1080p screens cause eye cancer? lol )

YES ! Some of us can not stand touch screens we need buttons. And the portrait keyboard ASHA series from Nokia is VERY popular in europe/asia/africa, as are BB QWERTY phones. Just because some don't use it doesn't mean others don't want it. The DVP was an awesome design (and is better with 7.8), one that was poorly marketed, and not sold in stores, etc.. due to Dells incompetence. So sorry.. but its Not dead.. its dead to US consumers.. and the makers of the phones that want to keep the price down (QWERTYs cost more to develop). But its not dead, to say so shows how uninformed of the world market you really are.

At some point, I will start looking at authors and just not pay any attention to what Ray S writes. I have a lot of respect with the other authors here, and they actually write fun/thought provoking articles that remind me why I come back. Ray S? Seems to hate most everything. (Find a positive Windows Phone article from him. Dare ya.)

And a portrait slider for WP, or any other OS for that matter??? Count me in. Love that form factor.

I think it'll have a place if BB10 is successful. I don't mind touch keyboards but I know some friends (who don't know much about tech) who say they want physical keyboards. And maybe some older business people who like physical keyboards. Still I think its a niche feature. And I hope BB10 does well. More options always good.

Possibly Niche, but if you go to LGs site you will see a large number of Landscape sliders. I mainly see landscapes being used by teens though.

The portrait slider, I know it seems counter intuitive, even though it has small keys. Is easier to use for those with big hands. My thumb is so big I often hit the wrong character on screen. But with a portrait slider I feel the buttons, and they quickly slide under my thumb and quickly I may add.

I find it 2x as fast and easier to use than a landscape slider, and 5x faster than on the screen keyboard.

It maybe a niche, but its a big one.. Why WP8 doesnt have one yet is beyond me.. they want the business class, and business users are used too and in some cases (like me) prefer the portrait keyboard.

There is now, and will always be, a large enough segment of qwerty users to support physical keyboards. BlackBerry is smart to recognize this, and also recognize that the Curve/Bold/Torch (portrait sliders, of course) crowd wants this option from BB right now. It would be the height of stupidity to not offer their core users a qwerty option.

But, full touch screens are the rage. Multi-media users want larger screens, and they are the bulk of premium smartphone buyers. BlackBerry was also smart to push the Z10 over the Q10. Q10 buyers are theirs. It is the Z10 audience they need to convince.

It wont die, just like a manual transmission, even tho most car buyers tend to go for automatic transmissions, there are still those who will always want a manual transmission, same for the physical keyboard,

I personally believe there's still a place for a physical QWERTY BB, many still enjoy using a proper physical keyboard on their phones and i often hear people moan about the lack of physical QWERTY driven phones with GS2/GS3 type specs.

Options are alway good for customer especially now that Blackberry is down to two devices. They have always developed a premium keyboard feel; I think that will continue to attract.
Blackberry 10 has started, hope they can roll out updates and patches to their customers desires. MORE OPTIONS ALWAYS GOOD!

on a side not: if google and apple could release a competive keyboard; would this be a relavant question?

depends what type of qwerty, the blackberry kind i hate it, small screen and small useless keyboard, but the nokia n97 or e7 kind of qwerty is awesome, there should be a qwerty slidntilt option for every great flasgship like the lumia 920 or galaxy s3

No one wants to kill QWERTY's, QWERTY's dies because of natural evolution, because today majority prefers Touch Screens. And that's mean manufacturers don't feel a need to manufacture smartphones with a Physical QWERTY Keyboards, it doesn't worth from business perspective.

No many don't.. touch screens for people with small hands is great. My fingers are the size of small sausages.. and the screen needs to be a LOT larger to accommodate my fingers, or at least more accurate as to what I touch. With a portrait slider, I can type without looking at the keys or the screen.

Sooner or later a rectangle will nto work for everyone anymore and manufacturers will do something to make their phones different.

I want the HTC Trophy that was leaked before the Verizon one. It had a 4.5" case, slightly smaller touch screen with a portrait Qwerty setup underneath it.

you just contradicted yourself pal. OEM's are killing off QWERTY's because they don't feel that it's worth it. i think a lot of people would beg to differ. QWERTY phones haven't been given much of a chance lately. i'd take a Droid 5 with a 4.5" display and i'd even step down from the Razr MAXX HD's battery longevity to have a good keyboard again.

"No one wants to kill QWERTY's" and "OEM's are killing off QWERTY's because they don't feel that it's worth it. And why they don't feel that it's worth it?
Because majority people sticked with Touch Screen Keyboards!" are clear contradictory statements.

only because there are no real high-end QWERTY phones anymore. there has been no real attempt since the Droid 5 to preserve high-end QWERTY keyboard phones.

By saying that I was responding to your comment #25 and I was talking about the simple people not about manufacturers.

"only because there are no real high-end QWERTY phones anymore. there has been no real attempt since the Droid 5 to preserve high-end QWERTY keyboard phones."

QWERTY is dying not because manufacturers doesn't manufacture high-end QWERTY phones anymore, but because majority of people prefers Touch Screens instead of QWERTY's and only then as result manufacturers are not focusing on manufacturing high-end smartphones with a QWERTY keyboards because it doesn't worth from business perspective.
In simple words, no one kills or wants to kill QWERTY, QWERTY are dying because majority of people doesn't feel a need for it and manufacturers before manufacturing something always makes analisis about people's needs.

Again.. WRONG.. I can not count the number of people that want to buy my Dell Venue Pro.. but when I tell them the only place to buy it is eBay, they pass. Dell screwed up the sales and distribution so bad its not funny. at minimum they should have sold them at Best Buy after they were left at the alter by T-Mobile and AT&T.

Phones simply don't sell well in the US unless they are physically in the telcoms store.

BTW.. look at T-mobile, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.. they all offer QWERTY phones, in candy bar and landscape slider. 33 of them according to PA.

So they apparently sale.. otherwise why have 33 varieties of them. For some reason you just want to prove yourself right.. that or have a hatred of QWERTY phones.. Either reason is stupid.

i wasn't just talking about the people originally. i was talking about anyone including OEM's that would have a hand in retiring QWERTY handsets.

how would you know that? sounds like a chicken or the egg situation to me. i'm sure there's plenty of people including me that would get a Q10 over a Z10 if they decided to get a Blackberry. even the statistic being done right here from this very article shows QWERTY devices still have a place in this world and someone needs to step up and provide a good, high-end QWERTY device.

Depends on if a) Blackberry does like all the other manufacturers and makes some crappy entry level handset with poor specs and puts in a qwerty or b) they do like the q10 and make it a high end phone, where the only thing that's not high end about it is the screen size. If a, kill off the qwerty. If b, I say it still would serve purpose for a lot of people, so keep up.

The thing about that...if one really wants and cares about a physical keyboard.....it not being a high end phone isnt gonna matter.

Ppl makes cchoices that dont necessarily have to cover all the bases. I stick by Moto....and their phones are considered not having high enough specs when they are released now. Think I care? Whats most important to me has lil to do with ram or gpu or screen. Even tho I said I want Moto to make the Moto X a phone I wanna buy at retail...I will probably still buy it just because Moto has never let me down.

Some ppl chose a high end all screen phone over a lower end physical keyboard phone....and are happy.

OEM's know strictly touch screen phones are more popular than QWERTY phone because of the success of devices like the iPhone and the Galaxy S series but that doesn't mean QWERTY phones are UN-popular, on the contrary there is apparently a lot of people hungry for a good one.

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